I must confess, I’m really digging Kusuriya no Hitorigoto in this mode. “Chill” is a word I think fits. There’s serious stuff going on, but Maomao attacks it with her usual deadpan cynicism and social cluelessness. The tripwires for this series are when it gets too busy and action-driven, and when it disappears onto the ouroboros of moe pandering. Those are nowhere to be seen so far this season, though inevitably there will be flare-ups. The chemistry is spot-on right now – a good group of characters in the spotlight, and an interesting premise playing out at a relaxed pace.
We’re fully in the “Meitantei Maomao” phase of the recurring plot at this point. The MacGuffin is that last book, and Suirei is the one who provides the hint as to its location. She’s living under house arrest with Ah-Duo, and it’s actually she who sets the two apothecaries on the right path. It’s a reminder that Ah-Duo is a remarkable woman – extremely sharp and possessed of keen judgment and noble temper. She understands that if Shisui is as the other two describe her, she would have left behind the means for Maomao (or someone) to get to the truth of the locust plague threat. And with Suirei’s master incapacitated due to the effects of the immortality potion, it was left to her to do so.
The 15th book is indeed among the possessions of the clinic that was shut down last season, as Maomao suspected. And her approach to its contents is classic Maomao. She’s a scientist at her core – she applies the method to every mystery she encounters. That includes mysteries of the heart, including her own, which is what gets her into trouble. But when it comes to stuff like this it’s exactly what’s called for. And Jinshi is likewise possessed of a keen intellect and – equally important – is exceptionally open-minded for a noble. He grasps the truth without it having to be spelled out, and doesn’t resist following Maomao’s lead when it comes to action. They make a formidable team.
That part is the essence of The Apothecary Diaries, really. Maomao can’t resist pushing Jinshi’s buttons and testing his limits – one can theorize as to why. She suggests, beyond the obvious ones prescribed in the third insect book, that a grasshopper recipe be trumpeted as a “royal recipe” so the people will hunt them in order to sell them to the palace (and eventually consume them themselves in imitation). A “banquet” is set up at Verdigris and it’s classic Maomao overreach where Jinshi is concerned, and amusing to behold. But not so for Granny, who observes the whole thing with irritation.
In the aftermath she sets up a police sketch scenario for Chuo-u (who she seems to have taken to) to draw Maomao’s “type”. The guy who emerges from his gifted brush is the doctor, but in truth Maomao is obviously just consciously describing the opposite of Jinshi in every respect. Grandma and the big sisters are thinking of Maomao’s future here, because she refuses to think of it herself. In fact we get a rare appearance from Joka, the third “princess” of Verdigris House and the one most like Maomao in her own estimation. This has the feel of a relationship that will prove significant as the story progresses.
What a fascinating mix of character development and mystery this is. There are lots of interesting elements to the locust story – including the fact that logging in the Shi territories is likely the reason for the grasshopper population explosion. And then we have the mysterious white lady, who actually is a white lady – she’s an albino. And she’s drawing attention to herself with a live performance – stealing customers from Verdigris – where she peddles the idea of immortality. She appears to be a practitioner of liandan-shu – Chinese Alchemy (anime loves alchemists). And seems to be drinking mercury (actually safer than inhaling it, though still toxic) as part of her act. She’s drawn Maomao’s attention now, so that thread is about to go to the next level.
